Reviews

Heavy Hands

When I heard the first chords of Heavy Hands exit my speakers and enter my head I was over come with nostalgia. I was caught up in a mid-afternoon-hazy-eyed-day-dream. Remembering those dirty days, rocking dirty music. I became engrossed. Lost. An amalgamation of sounds filled my ears. Punk, metal, rock, vibrato vocals...

The vocal stylings of the lead singer elevates the bands sound to an urgent necrotic pace; and when coupled with guitar it creates a sound reminiscent of metal and thrash. But the riffs get progressive and segue to crunchy and then move to epic. All in synchroneity with highly-intelligent-aggressive lyrics that demand the listener to react and respond.

Yet, up until track six the band remains encased in a sound that isn't breaking musical boundaries; nor do they declare or demonstrate the emergence of a new musical style. But towards the second half of the album the band differentiates themselves from other bands. Ladyfinger comes with intense straight-ahead rock, but when track six ("Don't Lose Your Shadow") kicks in; and the vocals drop, I wanna smash everything in my office and claim it a liberated province unto itself.

The raw intensity of the album left me dismayed. Stunned. What the fuck was that I said? A testimony of epic proportions? A creation of heavy-handed artists abusing their instruments? What the fuck was that?